Leaf-applied sodium chloride promotes cadmium accumulation in durum wheat grain

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in durum wheat grain is a growing concern. Among the factors affecting Cd accumulation in plants, soil chloride (Cl) concentration plays a critical role. The effect of leaf NaCl application on grain Cd was studied in greenhouse-grown durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. durum, cv. Balcali-2000) by immersing (10 s) intact flag leaves into Cd and/or NaCl-containing solutions for 14 times during heading and dough stages. Immersing flag leaves in solutions containing increasing amount of Cd resulted in substantial increases in grain Cd concentration. Adding NaCl alone or in combination with the Cd-containing immersion solution promoted accumulation of Cd in the grains, by up to 41%. In contrast, Zn concentrations of grains were not affected or even decreased by the NaCl treatments. This is likely due to the effect of Cl complexing Cd and reducing positive charge on the metal ion, an effect that is much smaller for Zn. Charge reduction or removal (CdCl2 0 species) would increase the diffusivity/lipophilicity of Cd and enhance its capability to penetrate the leaf epidermis and across membranes. Of even more significance to human health was the ability of Cl alone to penetrate leaf tissue and mobilize and enhance shoot Cd transfer to grains, yet reducing or not affecting Zn transfer

Accuracy of drug advertisements in medical journals under new law regulating the marketing of pharmaceutical products in Switzerland

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>New legal regulations for the marketing of pharmaceutical products were introduced in 2002 in Switzerland. We investigated whether claims in drug advertisements citing published scientific studies were justified by these studies after the introduction of these new regulations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this cross-sectional study, two independent reviewers screened all issues of six major Swiss medical journals published in the year 2005 to identify all drug advertisements for analgesic, gastrointestinal and psychopharmacologic drugs and evaluated all drug advertisements referring to at least one publication. The pharmaceutical claim was rated as being supported, being based on a potentially biased study or not to be supported by the cited study according to pre-specified criteria. We also explored factors likely to be associated with supported advertisement claims.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 2068 advertisements 577 (28%) promoted analgesic, psychopharmacologic or gastrointestinal drugs. Among them were 323 (56%) advertisements citing at least one reference. After excluding multiple publications of the same drug advertisement and advertisements with non-informative references, there remained 29 unique advertisements with at least one reference to a scientific study. These 29 advertisements contained 78 distinct pairs of claims of analgesic, gastrointestinal and psychopharmacologic drugs and referenced studies. Thirty-seven (47%) claims were supported, 16 (21%) claims were not supported by the corresponding reference, and 25 (32%) claims were based on potentially biased evidence, with no relevant differences between drug groups. Studies with conflict of interest and studies stating industry funding were more likely to support the corresponding claim (RR 1.52, 95% CI 1.07–2.17 and RR 1.50, 95% CI 0.98–2.28) than studies without identified conflict of interest and studies without information on type of funding.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Following the introduction of new regulations for drug advertisement in Switzerland, 53% of all assessed pharmaceutical claims published in major medical journals are not supported by the cited referenced studies or based on potentially biased study information. In light of the discrepancy between the new legislation and the endorsement of these regulations, physicians should not trust drug advertisement claims even when they seem to refer to scientific studies.</p

Complications and pitfalls of lumbar interlaminar and transforaminal epidural injections

Lumbar interlaminar and transforaminal epidural injections are used in the treatment of lumbar radicular pain and other lumbar spinal pain syndromes. Complications from these procedures arise from needle placement and the administration of medication. Potential risks include infection, hematoma, intravascular injection of medication, direct nerve trauma, subdural injection of medication, air embolism, disc entry, urinary retention, radiation exposure, and hypersensitivity reactions. The objective of this article is to review the complications of lumbar interlaminar and transforaminal epidural injections and discuss the potential pitfalls related to these procedures. We performed a comprehensive literature review through a Medline search for relevant case reports, clinical trials, and review articles. Complications from lumbar epidural injections are extremely rare. Most if not all complications can be avoided by careful technique with accurate needle placement, sterile precautions, and a thorough understanding of the relevant anatomy and contrast patterns on fluoroscopic imaging

citizen of the Republic of South Africa accepted on the recommendation of

Bit by bit, Putting it together... Piece by piece— Only way to make it work. Every moment makes a contribution, Every little detail plays a part. Having just a vision’s no solution. Everything depends on execution: Putting it together— That’s what counts. — with apologies to Stephen Sondheim. v Acknowledgements I am indebted to several people, without whom completing this dissertation would not have been possible

accepted on the recommendation of

Programming in different languages is like composing pieces in different keys, particularly if you work at the keyboard. If you have learned or written pieces in many keys, each key will have its own special emotional aura. Also, certain kinds of figurations “lie in the hand ” in one key but are awkward in another. So you are channeled by your choice of key. In some ways, even enharmonic keys, such as C-sharp and D-flat, are quite distinct in feeling. This shows how a notational system can play a significant role in shaping the final product. — D. Hofstadter; G ödel, Escher, Bach: an eternal golden braid

Institute for Computer Systems, Programming Languages and Runtime Systems Group

This paper presents a real-time implementation of an audio analysis algorithm. The selected approach is based on two stages, first a local novelty detection by a convolution kernel detects segments, and a distance measurement on statistical data gathered from the segments in the first stage describes the inter-segment similarity.

accepted on the recommendation of

Programming in different languages is like composing pieces in different keys, particularly if you work at the keyboard. If you have learned or written pieces in many keys, each key will have its own special emotional aura. Also, certain kinds of figurations “lie in the hand ” in one key but are awkward in another. So you are channeled by your choice of key. In some ways, even enharmonic keys, such as C-sharp and D-flat, are quite distinct in feeling. This shows how a notational system can play a significant role in shaping the final product

accepted on the recommendation of

I am deeply indebted to Professor N. Wirth for the privilege of being allowed to work with him. Over the years, he has taught me a wealth of wisdom that will follow me throughout my professional life, and beyond. I admire his unique ability of immediately recognizing the essential, and his courage to eliminate the superfluous even when considered indispensable by others. Often enough, I have attempted to apply his standards of judgement in my own work, and the results have been most gratifying. I thank him most sincerely for taking up the supervision of this thesis and commenting so competently on the ongoing project. I thank Professor J. Gutknecht for his willingness to be my co_examiner and for advising me on this thesis. He is truly a great pedagogue, and if the contents of this thesis are comprehensible at all, this is also a result of his valuable criticism of an earlier draft, delivered in his unrivalled didactic style. I am grateful to my colleagues at the Institut für Computersysteme for their openness to new ideas and their enthusiasm in discussing them, even late at night. Together, they have provided a friendly and intellectually most stimulating working environment. Finally, I thank C. Pfister and S. Ludwig for proof_reading this thesis